The Pregnancy Angel

I assure you: Anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life. "I assure you: An hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted to the Son to have life in Himself. And He has granted Him the right to pass judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come out--those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of judgment. – John 5:24-29 HCSB

There is an ancient fable found in the Talmud that describes an angel who is in charge of pregnancy. According to the account[1], the angel takes a drop of semen from which the child will be conceived, sets it before Yahweh Kadosh, and asks “Elah Sh’maya V’Arah, God of Heaven and Earth, this drop – what is its destiny? Will the person who develops from it be mighty or weak, intelligent or foolish, wealthy or poor?” The angel does not inquire whether the person will be wicked or righteous, however, because that will not be determined by God but by the coming human.

God has given us the ability to willingly choose our eternal fate. We can choose to align ourselves with His will, following, trusting and conforming ourselves to His Son, or we can choose to go against His good and perfect will. Aligning ourselves with the Maker of the Universe orients us in the same direction as the universe’s principles and allows for a good ending. Orienting ourselves with the Liar, Lucifer, may grant us a temporary reprieve from the complexities of further moral decisions, but will in the end bring about our demise.

You could think of it like this: imagine you stand at the edge of a great cliff. You decide that you don’t like the law of gravity. It impinges upon your free will. It is keeping you from achieving your full flight potential. So you decide to rebel against that Law. You step off the edge of the cliff. For a few moments you are going to be rewarded for your decision. You will get a sense of liberated flight. You will feel the wind whipping through your hair and an excited fluttering in your heart. Ah, but the end…it will come suddenly and without any return.

We may not choose our bodies or our circumstances but we do choose our souls. Those who choose to follow the Master will find themselves resurrected to life. Those who choose not to – choose eternal damnation.

[1] Niddah 16b